Classical Club Tap ‘Adelphoe’

If you thought that the Harvard Classical Club (HCC) doesn’t have fun, you may change your mind when you learn that their update of “Adelphoe” involves “pre-marital sex, knocking someone up, and a complicated relationship between brothers.” That’s according to the theatrical production’s director, Zachary H. Taxin ’09. The original staging of “Adelphoe”—originally written by Greek playwright Menander and adapted by Roman scribe Terence—was, perhaps, not so fun: it was first performed 2000 years ago during a funeral. Taxin insists that the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club’s production of “Adelphoe,” however, is “hilarious.”

According to Taxin, Terence’s “Adelphoe” is the best known version of the play. “Early Roman drama is heavily an adaptation; they weren’t as interested in creating their own drama,” Taxin says. “It wasn’t a part of their philosophy.”

The center of the play’s plot is the relationship of two brothers, Micio and Demea, who have very different outlooks on life. Micio is a fun loving party-goer and Demea is a more conservative father of two sons. Demea decides to give one of his sons to Micio to bring up. Although the plot sounds like a mix of “My Two Dads” and “Full House,” Taxin guarantees that the show will be quality entertainment.

“This is at the heart of where Shakespeare drew from,” he says. “Roman satire is really the heart of what we consider to be Western theater.”

This pivotal piece was not an easy one to adapt for the Harvard audience. The HCC members translated the play from the Latin themselves. Taxin, a Classics concentrator, found the main problem to be “establishing consistency between the translations of different people.” However, he believes that the overall process made the final product flavorful.

“The process of translation encouraged discussion over the piece. It makes it more exciting and interesting,” Taxin says.

While the HCC used to put on classical pieces in their original languages, they’ve stopped in recent years. “[Over time] they changed it because fewer students have a command of the language and the time to do it,” Taxin says.

But translating from an ancient language wasn’t the only rock the HCC had to roll up the mountain. “We had some trouble with the male parts because there were a lot of all-male shows going up,” said Taxin, referring to the fact that all four main roles in “Adelphoe” are male characters. Still, Taxin finds that his final cast “is really very witty and interested in classical stuff.”

Taxin refers to the relationship between the conservative Demea and the liberal Micio as the heart of the play. “Sometimes, when you have so much freedom,” he says, “you can’t be responsible or you aren’t responsible, like Micio. There’s a point to be made for Demea’s conservatism. There can’t all be just free range roaming.”

Heed his words as a life lesson; after all, the man knows Latin.